A Feather of Soul
by PageKat
Summary: EraBex have been given a terrible curse by Smaug. And, to their horror, it does not lift with the dragon's death. Realizing that they are stuck this way, they must readjust to the life that they always tried to claim would never happen and maybe learn a few things along the way.
1. Prolouge

**Prologue**

"Stop! Thief!" The calls rang out through the small village, but the culprit, a young-looking, red-headed boy who slipped like water through the fingers of his pursuers, had already lost to many fingers to be easily caught.

Leaving the gate open behind him, the thief ran through a chicken pen, the chickens running to freedom through the open gate in the wake of his passage. Overhead, a deadly, feathered predator eyed the agitated birds with malicious intent in its intelligent eyes.

To add to the chaos, the fleeing thief shouted conflicting directions as he ran, attempting to distract those chasing him; "Over there!" "By that pen!" "I've got him!" etc.

Jumping over a wayward table and ducking under a flying butcher's knife, he made a hasty escape into the woods outside of the village.

He knew he would have to move on soon; in a small settlement like the one he had just plundered, a small thing like a misplaced pickpocket was sure to be a big deal. He was fairly certain that many an adventurous villager would be roaming the area for days to come, just to be able to say they had done something vaguely interesting.

Making his way through the woods, the boy caught the sound of wings flapping through the air, and turned towards the noise. Sure enough, moments later, a large bird of prey came swooping through the trees, dropping a fat, very much dead chicken at the boy's feet and landing deftly on his outstretched arm.

"There you are," He said in a long-suffering tone of voice, "I just _knew_ you'd take advantage of my distraction to get yourself lunch. You cheating little bird!" He knew very well that the delicious-looking chicken at his feet was not his for the taking; if he'd caught it himself, it would be, but he and the bird had rules, they did, the one currently in play was 'you catch it, it's yours.'

"I hope you're going to share that," he added, "I'm starving."

The falcon perched on his arm just looked at him like, 'you kidding me? It's _mine_.'

The boy sighed, but didn't push the matter, instead grumbling, "I knew you'd say that." He'd gone hungry before, he could do it again.


	2. Chapter 1 - A Breath Away

A/N: Erabex is what I call them when I'm talking about both of them together, don't hesitate to ask if you are confused. Also, I'm reasonably certain that I've got the timing right, but correct me if I'm wrong.

 **Chapter One**

The sun's last rays shimmered on the horizon, their light shining across two figures. A boy sat on the hard packed snow, watching the sunset reflect on the water in the lake that stretched out before him. A falcon was perched on a bent stick that he'd stuck in the ground beside him, her intelligent eyes riveted on the shadows that were gradually chasing away the last traces of light.

As the sun disappeared, the boy sighed, the sigh turning into a heart-wrenching screech as he and the bird seemed to switch positions, feathers replacing skin and wings beating loudly in the still air.

In the place of the bird that had sat on the bench, girl stood, hand outstretched to the bird she knew would be beside her. Turning to look when no weight settled on her arm, she was stunned to see the falcon still sitting on the snow next to her, but rather than bird eyes in a bird head, a very human gaze met hers.

She crouched slowly, hand hovering only a breath away from the gyrfalcon. She wanted to touch it, so much, but she was afraid if she did it would disappear. Was their curse breaking?

But no. The bird cocked it's head at her and all humanness disappeared. The girl sighed, for a moment, she'd thought... no, it couldn't be possible. She held out her arm to the bird that was her twin brother, resigned to her fate.

:::

"Era!" The girl called for her twin. She was standing on a snow-covered slope, her long, reddish hair swept about by the midnight wind.

A piercing screech cutting through the air announced the arrival of the gyrfalcon. About two feet long, with a wingspan of just over four feet, Era was an impressive bird. As dark as his twin was light, he blended in perfectly with the midnight sky, nearly impossible to see as he flew.

When Bex, the girl, was in bird form, she was a gyrfalcon, about the same size as her twin, but lighter in color, almost white, with spots of grey.

They were solitary creatures, Erabex, rarely communicating with anyone other than themselves. They always seem to be near each other, though, and almost never asked for help, unless, of course, one of them was gravely wounded, because it is very hard to remove an arrow or stitch closed a wound when you have talons rather than hands, and that happened often enough.

Falconry was a rare profession, and both twins knew that no one would understand the curse that had been placed on them, so they stayed out of the way of humans-well, most of the time,-so they didn't attract attention.

"What is that?" Bex questioned, pointing to a trail of smoke on the horizon, darker than the night itself.

Era didn't need further prompting, they were in the territory of the one who had cursed them, and it paid to be careful. He launched off his twin's arm, gaining altitude with smooth, powerful strokes of his wings. In less than a minute, Bex was just a dot on a hill in the far distance.

He flew on towards the source of the smoke, almost falling out of the sky with shock when he reached it. The dragon was out of his mountain, and he was attacking the town! Laketown, Era remembered it was called, was up in flames. He just hovered, for a moment, it was all he could do to keep his wings beating. He had a bad feeling about this.

Suddenly, a huge ball of flame scorched past him, singeing his feathers on its way. Screeching in alarm and just little bit of pain, Era spun on a wingtip to get out of there as fast as possible, winging away like and arrow, all shock pushed to the back of his mind as he focused on not dropping out of the dark clouds again.

And then he saw it, the first pale streaks of dawn, peeking above the clouds, shoot, he thought, and was just about to head for the grounds when he heard it. It hit him like a shock wave, sending him tumbling downward, head over tail, helpless against the force of it. A roar, just one, as unseen to Era, the light went out of Smaug's eyes. The roar of a dragon already dead, like the toll of a bell, sealing the twins fate.

Smaug was dead, and Era, plummeting towards the ground, was still a bird. Their curse would not be broken.

:::

Bex saw the lifeless shape of a gyrfalcon falling from the cloudlands above and he heart fell with it. She knew instinctively that it was her brother. She started running as fast as she could go towards the forest he was plummeting into. But then she stopped dead.

The shockwave blasted her backwards, ripping a scream from her throat as she covered her ears from the terrible sound. Normal people wouldn't have reacted like this, but the death of the curse-caster tends to have this affect on those cursed by him. Especially if the curse remains unbroken.

Bex held her head in her hands as she came to the same conclusion Era had.

The curse remained.


	3. Chapter 2 - Separated

_A/N: Erabex apologises for all the mistakes that I try not to make on the grounds that I just 'get on with the story already'..._

 _Me: "hey! HEY! Stop it!" *pulls feathers out of hair, straightens imaginary tie* "ARGH! I'm writing! I'm writing!"_

 **Chapter Two- Helpless**

Bex's running feet crunched on the snow-covered ground, the bright rays of dawn just peeking above the clouds.

Screech! Girl shadow became hawk shadow and running feet became flapping wings, propelling Bex towards the edge of the forest, dark trees soon engulfing her. Screech! Scree! Desperately, she called for her twin; any hint of his presence would mean the world to her.

She knew, deep down, that he wasn't dead, that he couldn't be dead, it just wasn't possible.

And she was right. Moments later, a muffled groan caught her attention, and swerving towards the sound, Bex found her brother lying in heap, half unconscious, but still alive.

Landing awkwardly beside him, she nudged him with her head. He didn't even acknowledge her. After several unsuccessful attempts to return Era to the land of the living, Bex resorted to hopping around to his head and smacking it with her wing. That worked.

A muffled groan came from the body. Lifting his head just slightly to look at his twin, Era mumbled, "Why'd you hit'n me?"

Okay… thought Bex, we may have a problem. She nudged his face with her wing, burbling to him reassuringly. Okay, okay, calm, Bex, calm, we'll figure this out. She then proceeded to continue poking and pestering him until he sat up, wincing in pain as he did.

"Urgh," Era said after he'd pushed himself into a sitting position with his back against a tree. "Everything hurts."

Bex looked at him worriedly, hopping up onto his leg to look at him better. "Ah!" Era cried, sending her flapping away. "I think it's broken." He said through gritted teeth, and his sister looked at him like 'no duh. You lucky duck,' he knew exactly what the look conveyed.

Choosing to ignore her for the time being, he murmured, "So… how do we get out of this? For that matter where are we?"

Bex resisted the urge to roll her eyes. They were in Mirkwood, that's where. Era just had to crash-land in the middle of the whole bloody forest!

And without hands, she couldn't even do anything! She was helpless! Her frustrated screech echoed through the forest just before she realised what she'd done.

The woods around them went silent. The only sound being a scratchy clicking that was getting louder by the second.

Era stared at her in horror. He was not afraid of many things, but spiders, any sane person would be afraid of spiders. Especially in Mirkwood.

:::

Bex moved first, craning her head around to scan their surroundings, there! A hollow in the base of a tree, just big enough. She swung around again and pecked Era's hand, getting his attention. She bobbed her head at the tree.

Looking at it, Era understood right away. So, despite the pain he was in due to his injured leg, he dragged himself towards the tree, hoping his ragged breathing hadn't already given him away.

Bex hopped along behind him, using her wings to muddle the tracks and attempting to replace human scent with bird scent. Before long, Era tucked himself into the hollow in the tree, grunting in pain as he did so.

Bex looked over him and his hiding place. That wouldn't confuse a fly, was her only thought as she launched off the ground, with just a few beats of her wings, reaching the top of the hollow. Still flapping, she ignored her brothers hissed cries to stop whatever she was doing and find cover, and the incessant clicking that was getting louder by the second. Scraping her claws across the rotting bark of the tree, she managed to drop huge chunks of it down of her brother, who still didn't seem to realise that she was doing for him.

Finally, she backed up to examine her work. It probably wouldn't fool a human, or a elf, considering where they were, but she had no intentions of even letting a spider get close to it.

Without another look at her twin, Bex spun on a wing tip and flew off through the trees, trusting her brother to stay where he was, scree, screech, once she judged herself a safe distance away from her brother, she let loose a few piercing screeches. The sound had drawn the spiders to them before, she had faith that it could draw them away, if they hadn't found her brother first.

 _A/N: And a cliffhanger! But don't worry, I'll try to have the next chapter out by a least this saturday._

 _Please review! Questions, Comments, Concerns and Criticisms are welcome, please do not hesitate to tell me if you have a problem with something I wrote, or if you just like my story! Thanks!_

 _-PageKat_


	4. Chapter 3 - A Garden of Grief

_A/N: First off, I would like to thank my fellow author, Posher10, for letting me use their characters in my story. If you are going to continue reading this story, and want a bit of background info so that it makes more sense, I recommend that you go read his/her story_ _The Tale of Rubah Foxson_ _, it's also really good._

 _Ok, here we go…_

 **Chapter Three - A Garden of Grief**

How could she? How _could_ she?! Era was enraged. His own sister had flown off on him. He knew, he just didn't want to admit, that she was doing it for him. Because if he admitted that she did it for him, and she was hurt, or worse, he would never stop blaming himself. And one thing he'd learned, growing up as he did, is that it's not hard to spiral into grief, but it's hard to climb back up.

So he stayed where he was. Bex had flown off to distract the spiders so that he would be safe, though, in doing so, she unknowingly left him alone in his garden of grief.

:::

Bex flew through the trees, dodging and ducking to avoid stray limbs and not crash. Making noise was not something she normally did, being a part-time bird of prey, but she did her best.

Turns out, her best may have been too good. The spiders chased her, alright. Faster than she had expected. Fast enough to get ahead of her.

Bex saw the web, tried to avoid it, and clipped the edge with her wing, knocking her off-balance and into another web, the first one's safety net; the spiders of Mirkwood were used to bigger prey than birds.

As soon as she realized what had snagged her, Bex froze up. She hadn't been caught by a spider in a long time. But she knew well enough that thrashing about to try and get free only made the spider come faster.

Besides, feathers plus sticky web doesn't add up to smiles and happiness, more likely pain if she attempted to escape. She was well and truly stuck.

As the faint clicking came closer, Bex reflected that at least she'd done her job, and her brother was safe. For the time being, at least. And with that thought, she resigned herself to her fate.

:::

Rubah Foxson slipped quietly through the shadows of the looming trees of Mirkwood, tracing the sound of a shrieking bird, echoing through the forest. He knew that the amount of noise that it was making was bound to draw spiders, but that was something he was willing to risk.

Then he spotted it through the trees and branches in front of him, a cloudy white blur, on a collision course with a huge tangle of spider web. Evidently, the white blur did not, in fact, see the web in time. It veered sharply, but it's wing nonetheless clipped the edge of the web, sending it spinning headlong into the tangle.

The moment it seemed to realize that it was stuck in the web, it did something that one would not expect an animal to do; it stopped moving entirely. Now, Rubah knew that the smart thing to do when trapped in a spider web was to not move at all. Because movement was sure to bring spiders. He just couldn't see how a bird understood this. Most wild animals would jerk and thrash and try to escape, which would only bring about it's doom faster, but not this one.

The spider who's web the beautiful white gyrfalcon was stuck in must have felt the bird hit the web, because it arrived less than a minute later.

As Rubah slid his dagger from his sheath, he told himself that he was doing this because the spider was to close for comfort, as he drew it back to throw, he told himself that it had probably noticed him already. But as the knife slammed home in the spider's head, he realized that both of the things he told himself were lies.

He just wanted to know more about the strangely intelligent bird.

:::

Bex could feel the vibrations in the web as the spider approached, it was not a good feeling. Then, suddenly, the weight of the spider was gone completely, the only sound that reached feathered her ears being a heavy thump that was probably the spider's body hitting the ground, only, she didn't know what made it fall.

That question was answered a moment later as a soft voice sounded from behind her, "Don't move."

A cold blade slid over the edge of Bex's wing, cutting it free of webs and fast-moving fingers set web-stuck feathers back in place.

Every instinct, both human and bird, screamed at Bex to react, to whip around and lash out at this stranger. But he'd saved her, whoever he was, and she wouldn't hurt him unless he struck first.

As the stranger cut away the last of the webs, Bex, having no room to flap her wings and fly without getting tangled again or hurting the man behind her, fell.

Her talons landed on an arm, presumably the arm of the stranger, and her claws latched around it. Years of landing on her twin's arm just like this, once having broken at least two bones in his hand with her crushing grip, had ingrained in her muscle memory a habit of stopping her claws just before they broke skin.

:::

Evidently, thought Rubah as he caught the falcon on his arm, this was a well trained bird. He had not failed to notice how those deadly claws had stopped just before the point at which they would have left marks and relaxed just slightly.

"Hey," He said in a calming voice, "You're okay now, _I_ , at least, won't eat you."

The bird craned its head around and gave him a look that clearly said, 'I _know_ you're not going to eat me, I'm not dumb.'

"Well alright then," Rubah chuckled softly to himself, "You're clearly not dumb."

::

That's when Bex had an idea. This new person was strange, sure, but he hadn't tried to hurt her yet, and in Mirkwood, most things that wanted to hurt you did so in the first thirty seconds. They didn't kill the spider that was going to kill you, cut you out of its web, then tell you they _weren't_ going to eat you. So, without another thought, she launched herself off his arm and towards the nearest tree branch, using her internal compass to locate her twin.

::

"Hey," called Rubah softly, "Where are you going?" he could tell by now they the bird not only understood him, but would probably respond if it could.

The bird just cocked its head at him, fluttering off to another, farther away branch as he came closer. "You want me to follow you?" He asked.

He could have sworn it rolled its eyes. Bobbing its head, it hopped to a yet farther branch, fluttering its wings in an unmistakable 'come on' gesture.

"Okay then," and so Rubah followed it as it hopped from branch to branch, looking back every once in a while to make sure he was following.

:::

Era sat curled up in his hollow, listening. It'd been a while since Bex had flown off, and he was starting to get worried.

Just then, the soft sound of light footsteps approaching caught his attention. It couldn't be Bex, because she wouldn't be walking, unless…

But no, his sister, still a bird, landed on a branch on the tree above him, not even hopping down to his level to see him. And then he realized. She was waiting. Undoubtedly, the one she was waiting for was the man who came into sight moments after Bex.

Short, dark, hair partially obscured Era's view of the man's face, and the rest of his body was shrouded by a dark, swirling cloak. He didn't recognize the man, and he didn't know why Bex would have brought him, so he decided to not give away his hiding spot unless called upon.

Bex twittered at him softly from above, cocking her head down towards him. Era took that as his sign to show himself. He did so, hissing in pain as he dragged himself out from inside the hollow.

He saw the man's eyes widen as he stood, shaking himself slightly and brushing the dirt and bark off of himself, and keeping his weight off his broken leg.

"Hello," said Era, giving the man a wary look, "My name is Era, and this-" he waved at his sister, "-is Bex. Who are you?"

The man looked at him in a searching kind of way, then he said, his voice soft, "My name is Rubah Foxson."

:::

 _Annnnd, that is probably the longest chapter I have ever written. Congrats me._

 _So, I need one thing from you guys. Rubah and his family will be kind-of important in future chapters. Do you want me to do a chapter where Rubah figures out the they are pretty much were-falcons, and_ then _go ahead with the time jump that I had originally planned, or do I skip when Rubah finds out and just move on. It won't matter that much in the long run, but it's pretty much an extra chapter, soooo…_

 _Anyway, it's totally up to you readers. If I don't get any feedback on this by, let's say, Sunday the 14th, I'm just gonna go ahead with the time jump, no extra chapter. So let me know what you want!_

 _And, before you vote, I strongly suggest that you go read The Tale of Rubah Foxson, because it will help with you understanding of this story._

 _-PageKat_


	5. Chapter 4 - Stray

_A/N: I know what I said. I've waited, but I can't do it anymore. I need to write. Because I only have one response, a very positive response, I must say, (thank you, Posher10) I'm gonna write it. I might even add in a second chapter in this little arc, because now that I've made the mistake of waiting, I've gotten a new idea. Curses!_

 _And hey! I'm going to put a flashback in this one because I need filler, I hope you enjoy!_

 **Chapter Four - Stray**

"Come on," called Rubah softly, they were nearing the edge of the forest, he could literally _feel_ the misery and darkness in the air diminishing.

He looked back at his companions. The boy, Era, was doing surprisingly well for having a broken leg. Rubah had found him a fallen tree limb and he was using it as a crutch, totally ignoring his injury to warily scan the forest around him. His bird, Bex, the strangely intelligent gyrfalcon, seemed concerned for her master, constantly swooping down from the trees overhead to check on him.

They were a strange pair indeed, a boy and a bird; falconry was not a widely known(much less practiced) profession, and if Rubah was to hazard a guess, he'd say Era was self-trained. He himself knew little of bird-handling, it was not something he did, and seeing someone confidently taking care of a deadly bird of prey was something of a novelty.

Era turned from his constant scanning to look at his new acquaintance. His sister seemed to like this 'Rubah,' but Era's trust was not so far tilted towards first impressions as she was. He did move a bit faster, though; stranger or not, Rubah seemed like a wise man.

And he was a man. Era was sure of fairly sure of that. He one for noticing the most minute detail, including the shape of one's ears. These things were rather important to him.

"Coming," he said, hissing in pain as he did so, causing Bex to swoop down over his head again, ruffling his hair with the wind of her passage. He looked up at her, annoyance tinging his voice as he said, "Stop it, Bex, you're getting on my nerves."

In response, Bex let out a soft, indignant chuckling sound, and perched on a branch ahead of them to preen. Era almost laughed at his sister's mock egocentricity. But he didn't. He'd learned, a long time ago, that it paid to learn more about what type of people you were around before letting them find out about you. He winced at the memory. It was not a happy one.

:::

" _Hmm…" the huge dragon hissed, "I should kill you for that. Any other dragon would have burned you to a crisp by now, for entering their home, attempting to steal their gold, and then expecting to get away with it. But I'm not_ any dragon _. I AM SMAUG!"_

 _He finished this proclamation with a blood-curdling roar of fury, blasting the twins against one of far wall of the huge cavern._

 _There was a sickening crunch as Bex hit the wall, falling immediately into unconsciousness._

" _Bex!" Era's scream for his sister echoed across the cavern, not going unnoticed as the huge golden dragon stalked across the floor towards them._

" _And besides." His rumbling voice added as he reached out a claw towards the pair, plucking Bex off the ground and dangling her lifeless form in the air. "I've thought of something better."_

 _He looked at the human in his claws thoughtfully, "You care for her, don't you?" He snorted in annoyance when Era didn't answer. "How would you like it if I took her away from you? Gone FOREVER!"_ His _head snapped forward and came alarmingly close to Era's trembling form before he hissed, "No, that's not good enough. Ending her life would do nothing for me."_

 _The giant golden head drew back, turning to appraise Bex. "I think I won't kill you. I won't kill her either. I will doom you both."_

 _The shriek of a bird and the scream of a boy echoed away in the cavern, finally dissipating into nothing._

:::

Hurriedly, Era shook off the memory. He didn't want to think about _that._

If Rubah noticed the slightly distant expression on era's face, it didn't register.

Most likely because it wasn't a boy face anymore. It was a pitch black gyrfalcon.

There was a muffled thump as the stick Era had been using as a crutch hit the ground. Then a thump and several curses.

Rubah spun around to find a red-headed girl sitting on the ground behind him, looking as though she just fell from the sky, or more accurately, a tree.

Rubah put two and two together. "You have some explaining to do."

 _A/N: Sorry that was short! Another chapter is coming in this arc! Hold tight!_


	6. Chapter 5 - Campfire Tales

_A/N: Okay, part two._

 **Chapter Five - Campfire Tales**

Miriam was waiting. Waiting for Rubah, waiting for news. And despite _all_ her patience going into the effort, she was getting annoyed.

There! Footsteps alerted her to the presence of someone, well, multiple someones. Wait, that wasn't right, Rubah would be alone. In seconds, she was on her feet, bow in her hand, arrow nocked. Pointed towards the sound of footsteps.

:::

Bex followed Rubah out of the woods, and stopped short.

There was a very fierce, very deadly looking woman pointing an arrow at her.

Rubah looked at her face and almost laughed. "Miriam, please put down your bow. I think you're scaring her."

The scary lady, who must be Miriam, reluctantly lowered her bow, "Another one, Rubah? You're like a cat, you know, every day you leave, and then when you come back, you bring another stray with you."

Rubah just smirked. "Actually, I found two this time." Right on cue, Era arrived, dropping from the sky and landing neatly on Bex's outstretched arm.

Era cocked his head at Miriam. The look on his face said, 'Boom.'

:::

"You were _what?_ " Miriam was shell-shocked. She, Rubah, and EraBex sat around the fire she had made while waiting for Rubah, and EraBex were telling their tale.

"Cursed." Answered Bex calmly, "By a dragon."

At this point, Rubah was nearly as shocked as his younger sister. He had been given a brief explanation back in the woods, but the whole story was rather hard to take in.

"But you tried to take his gold…" Miriam said.

"No," clarified Bex, "We were technically supposed to be sacrifices or something like that, I don't really remember, but he was just sleeping on this huge pile of gold, between us and the exit, so we tried to sneak past. It just didn't go as planned."

Both Rubah and Miriam could tell that Bex was hiding a bit of the truth. Rubah chose to tell himself that it must have been a very traumatic experience, and if he was in her position, he wouldn't want to talk about it either.

Miriam had no such qualms. She asked questions, but she was a bit off in what she thought Bex was lying about. "So you weren't _at all_ tempted to take some gold?"

Rubah almost missed the look of relief that flashed across Bex's face for less than a second before she answered, pretending to be offended. " _Valar no!_ We are good, honest souls, we are!" Here she snorted derisively, "Pshh, no. Era wanted to take some, but I convinced him that it was probably cursed and or something, being _dragon_ gold." For a moment, she assumed a thoughtful expression, "Hmm, actually, now that I think about it, it was probably the sound of me hitting him over the head that woke the dragon. My bad."

Miriam, Rubah, and Bex laughed over the sound of Era's indignant squawking.

:::

Bex stared into the fire, lost in thought. She liked Rubah, and she liked Miriam. They did seem to spend most of their time on the move, it could be nice the stay with them for a while. Then she sighed to herself. As was the nature of her and Era's curse, they would outlive the two humans, they always did. That was part of the reason that they were always alone. All those the were close to them had passed on. All of them.

Rubah watched Bex with something akin to apprehension. What Miriam had said was true in it's own way; he did often bring back wounded strays from his adventures, but it was not often that they stayed from more time than it took the to heal. Era's leg barely seemed to bother him in bird form, so Rubah supposed that EraBex would be moving on. In all honesty, he knew that if they didn't leave soon, he'd never want to let them go.

Turns out, he didn't even have to worry about that. Bex came to him first. His own apprehension mirrored on her face.

"Uh, Rubah?" She said, turning to face him, "Would it be okay if...do you think we could…" she let out a frustrated huff, "Could we stay with you and Miriam for a while? We have nowhere else to go, and," she gave him a small smile, "I, at least, enjoy your company."

Rubah didn't know what to say for moment, he had been expecting an excuse for them to leave, not this. "Yes! I mean-sorry, of course you can stay, for as long as you want." Then he grinned wickedly. "Just wait 'till Miriam sees you two in the morning."

:::

 _A/N: Hold up, did I say one chapter, sorry, there are going to be more. Due to the fact that I have literally nothing to do right now, I think I'm going to give you at least one more rapid fire chapter...I hope._


	7. Chapter 6 - Death Isn't Fair

_A/N:_ **THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!** _If; miriam is your favorite character, you really like her, or you just plain don't like death, DON'T READ THIS CHAPTER. If you want to read it anyway,_ PLEASE _go read_ _The Tale of Rubah Foxson_ _first, it will soften the blow…_

 _If you have no problems oncesoever with all of the above, well, then, Carry on, good readers._

 **Chapter Six - Death Isn't Fair**

To say Miriam was surprised would be deserving of the understatement of the year award. She was completely and totally flabbergasted. In the fifteen years since Ruabh and Miriam had come across the twins, Rubah had not been able to suppress a chuckle every time he thought about it. It had been hilarious.

He didn't know why he was thinking about it as he and EraBex stalked their prey, but it just sort-of popped into his head. He did his very best to not laugh, but his efforts were unsatisfactory and earned a glare from Era anyway.

During said fifteen years, Rubah and Miriam had taught both the were-birds sign language, mostly for hunting purposes, but for other reasons as well.

Now, the currently human twin signed at Rubah, _Quit giggling, you'll scare all the food away._ Rubah quickly composed himself and focused on the hunt.

:::

They had been successful, managing to bring down a young doe and several rabbits. As they made their way back to camp, Era somehow organised a bet with his sister, despite her not being able to state her terms for obvious reasons.

EraBex both held two rabbits, the deal was, whoever made it back to camp fastest got to eat both the rabbits they carried. The loser had to share. Rubah had agreed to this and they decided that Miriam would be able to tell who won.

"Okay," said Rubah, "You're both ready?" A nod from Era and a piercing screech from above answered his query.

"Well, then, off you go." The moment he said it, both Era and the circling bird above disappeared. Rubah followed after, albeit at a much slower pace.

:::

Only minutes later, a human scream echoed through the silence of the woods. Rubah immediately dropped the deer and started running. Only to stop, frozen by shock and horror.

Era was on his knees in the clearing where they set up camp, sobs shaking his entire frame. In his arms was Miriam, an arrow in her chest and her eyes closed.

 _no, No, NO!_ This couldn't be happening! Rubah was by her side in a flash, Era gently placing her in his arms. The edges of his vision clouded, only seeing Miriam. Her breathing too ragged, her skin too pale.

"No," Rubah whispered, "No, no, Miriam, no… you can't go, don't leave me, please, no."

Miriam's eyes cracked open at the sound of his voice, her lips moving but no sound coming out. Finally, she managed words. They were not the words Rubah wanted to hear.

"It's… n-not, your… fault. D-don't… blame...your, self." The last word came out as a sort-of sigh, and her body went slack.

"No!" Cried Rubah, "Miriam! NO!"

His tears dropped down, one by one, then in a torrent, mingling with the blood on her shirt, her body close to his, rocking slightly as Rubah Foxson let go.

:::

 _A/N: *sobs* why, do I do this? Why?! I could have just skipped this chapter, but nooo. I had to cause myself all this pain and sorrow. And I couldn't even tell you why. *sniffles* and now I'm running out of tears. Good job, me._

 _Well, I think that's just about the end of this arc(not this story), 'cause I don't think I can write grief-stricken Rubah. Bye for now!_

 _-PageKat_


	8. Chapter 7 - Gwador, meet Oiogwenyn

_A/N: Sorry for the delay!_

 **Chapter Seven - Gwador, meet Oiogwenyn**

Yet more unexpected guests, thought Diatimur as she opened the door of her home. But this time, it wasn't who she thought.

It was almost midnight, not a normal time for people to be out and about. She had some suspicions about who it could be, but never had she thought, nay, _hoped_ of this.

"EraBex?" She couldn't believe it, it'd been nearly sixteen years! The audicy they had! She proceeded to reach out, grab the ear of the girl at the door, and drag her inside.

Seating her down in the kitchen, Diatimur stood in front of her, hands on hips, foot tapping. Bex looked sheepishly up at her from under her bangs, "Urm...sorry Dia?"

Diatimur was tempted to slap her. She did her very best to keep her voice low so she didn't wake up everyone else in the house. " _Fifteen_ years! _FIFTEEN_! Where have you been!" She was then distracted by a soft fluttering of wings as Era flapped in through the open window. She spun to face him, her keen ears just catching Bex's words behind her.

"We really are sorry," accompanied by a muffled sob.

She spun once more, this time actually taking in the disheveled appearance of the gyrfox. "Bex? What's wrong?" She was beginning to get concerned.

"We-we haven't been here, an' Rubah's been sad, and Miriam is gone, and everything is wrong!" Then, in a whisper, "Everything is wrong Dia, _everything_."

Diatimur was immediately by the girl's side, embracing her comfortingly. She hadn't thought it was this bad. "Come on, let's get you to bed, shall we? We'll figure it all out in the morning."

"Yes, Dia," sniffled Bex, allowing herself to be led out of the room and down the hall, Era following after.

:::

A while later, back in the kitchen, Diatimur contemplated.

She knew that EraBex had taken Miriam's death hard. Possibly even harder than Rubah. Bex and Miriam had been close. So close that it had been heartbreaking for them to be separated for more than a few weeks. They were like the ultimate sisters.

Rubah and Era, for their part, had forged their own bonds, choosing to ignore Bex and Miriam's finishing each other's sentences.

And then Miriam died. Rubah had spiralled into grief, none of them able to pull him back to the surface for years, until 'Ro came. But EraBex hadn't been sighted by the Foxchildren for over sixteen years, so they hadn't met 'Ro, and didn't know what a great influence he was on Rubah and all of them, really.

So Bex was still unresponsive and uncaring. The really sad thing was, she wasn't even overreacting. She and Era had met and lived with the Foxchildren, making their own roles in the family, and then she'd had a piece of her heart ripped out in the form of Miriam being murdered.

For the short time that EraBex had stuck around after Miriam's death, Bex had been almost catatonic; not seeming to hear what was said around her, not responding to anything anyone did. Eventually, Era had taken her away. The other members of the family knew that all of them needed time to come to grips with what had occurred, but with EraBex gone, Rubah sunk deeper into depression.

The next time that EraBex returned, Bex and Rubah had a little fight, well, a little fight compared to the usual family spats. A little fight involving both Rubah and Bex blowing up at each other, blame being thrown, and glares sent around with the intent to kill. They eventually cooled off and apologized, with much coaxing and threatening on Diatimur and Era's parts, but the gyrfoxes disappeared soon after, and hadn't been seen since.

Now they showed up at Diatimur's door, took her scolding without a fight, and then proceeded to break down in the kitchen. As if she didn't have enough to worry about with 'Ro and Rubah arriving and Rubah actually _smiling_. But seriously. Dia sighed to herself. Life was complicated.

Despite not having any children of her own, she was a mother. The ruler of a den of unruly kits who were always getting into trouble. _Valar_ , as much as Dia loved being a mother to her family, she hated it. She hated opening to door to find her kits on the doorstep, bruised and bleeding, mentally and physically. She hated bandaging their wounds, seeing their scars and trying to heal their broken minds. She hated asking the same question, every time: "Who did this to you," and getting only painful silence in response. And most of all, she hated sending them back out into that horrible, cruel world with a kind smile and a "come back soon," knowing that they would come back, battered and broken, barely better than when they left. Not being able to protect them, not being able to take the blows for them. Useless.

No. Not useless. She _could_ protect them, she _could_ take blows that were meant for them, but they would never let her. They would not let her break in their place. They could not see Dia break that way. The same way they did. Every day.

:::

Era woke up in a bed. That was surprising enough. Until he remembered where he was. Yawning tiredly, he sat up and almost pushed the blankets off of himself before seeing Bex and stopping himself.

She was perched on the headboard of the bed, the blankets bunched under her talons, white feathers shining in the morning light seeping through the open window.

A plan formulated itself in his head. He slipped carefully out from under the sheet that had been covering him and, sitting on his knees, inched his head up to Bex's eye level.

"Boo!" He said suddenly.

:::

 _A/N: Ok, hello all, this is kind of short, sorry, but I'll try to have the next chapter out soon._


	9. Chapter 8 - Family

**Chapter Eight - Family**

A bird's startled screech echoed through the house, making 'Ro jump. He was sitting at the table in the kitchen of Diatimur and Utara, a mug of something or other in his hands and a smile on his face.

According to Utara and Diatimur, Rubah hadn't smiled in years. So 'Ro was happy that Rubah was happy.

But now Rubah was definitely not happy. He whirled on Dia, hissing, "Why didn't you say they were here?"

Dia winced and said, "They arrived late last night, she looked dead on her feet, so I put her to bed."

'Ro was still stuck trying to figure out who they were talking about when Rubah stormed out of the room. Immediately, he leaped out of his chair to follow, just catching himself before he spilled his mug. Utara held out a hand saying quietly, "Let him go, 'Ro, he needs to do this himself."

"What's 'this'?" 'Ro asked, still confused and now a bit irritated.

"Gyrfoxes." Stated Utara.

"What's a gyrfox?" Asked 'Ro, feeling like they knew a _lot_ more than him.

"Not what, who."

:::

Bex shrieked angrily as Era chased her around the room, then, all motion stopped. Rubah was standing in the doorway.

"Rubah?" Said Era uncertainty, unsure of what to do.

Suddenly, Rubah stepped forward and embraced him, murmuring, "Where have you _been_?" Into his shoulder. For a moment, Era was stiff, not fully understanding what had happened to change Rubah, to make him show emotion.

But then he hugged Rubah back, taking his chance. Rubah was not a normally emotional person, so his family appreciated it when he opened up to them.

Then Rubah was stepping back, hand held out to Bex, who was perched on the footboard of the bed, her head cocked towards them. She fluttered over to him immediately, rubbing her head against his arm lovingly, making a soft whirring sound in the back of her throat to signify her gladness at seeing him.

Stroking his free hand over her feathers calmingly, Rubah looked at Era and said, "I missed you. We all missed you. I'm that glad you're home." He looked down at Bex and smiled slightly. "I have someone I'd like you to meet."

:::

Where was Rubah? What was taking so long? 'Ro was almost too busy worrying to notice the one who he was worrying about come into the kitchen. He did, though, and looked up.

Rubah was not alone. With him was a teenage human boy, warm brown eyes and red-blond hair identified him as a Rohirrim. The most interesting thing, though, was the bird. There was beautiful white gyrfalcon perched on rubah's arm, staring at him with alarming clarity in it's grey-brown eyes.

Then Rubah spoke. "'Ro, these are the gyrfoxes."

The boy smiled faintly at him. "I'm Era,-" he gestured to the gyrfalcon, "-that's Bex. It's nice to meet you."

:::

Not long after the meeting in the kitchen, Era showed his true colors. Just like Rubah had known he would. Utara and Diatimur were distracting 'Ro with something or other in the yard in front of the cottage, and Rubah was explaining the situation to the Gyrfoxes. Understandably, Era took it the wrong way.

"I understand Rubah, I really do. We all need a new light, but," silent tears rolled down his cheeks, "Miriam...you, y-she was supposed to be with us forever, she wasn't s'posed to leave...I, we, we can't lose anyone else. I don't think we could survive that, not again."

Rubah silently stepped forward to wrap his arms around the gyrfox. He wasn't normally a touchy person, but he couldn't stand it when EraBex broke down.

Then he said, softly, unexpectedly, "He was a stray when I found him. Wounded, half dead. You know how I am. I got to attached. Then he didn't leave."

Era looked up at the broken, almost wistful tone in Rubah's voice, but he continued.

"He's wormed his way into my heart. Not in Miriam's place, but he's made his own. I don't think I could let him go now if I tried. 'Ro is not Miriam. He's not a replacement. He's part of our family." The he looked down at Era cunningly, "Besides, you can't possibly deny that he's good for all of us. You know you like him."

Era thought for a moment, then said, "Yes, I do."


	10. Chapter 9 - Tears

**Chapter Nine - Tears**

Fog dusted the entire world, shifting and swirling around Bex as she stepped quietly through Miriam's garden. She didn't have to see, though, to move through it. She knew its paths by heart, as every night she was at Diatimur's home, she spent most of her nights there.

This night, though, was different. Soft weeping echoed through the empty garden, and Bex was following it.

Arriving at the base of the large tree in the center of the garden, she looked up. Sure enough, 'Ro was tucked into himself on a branch, not all that far from the ground. Crying his eyes out.

Bex sat down on one of the benches under the tree and listened to the somehow soothing sound. At a break in the weeping, she spoke.

"When Miriam died, no one wanted to walk in her garden with me, no one wanted to tend it, to take care of the life here. They fear the memories. Me? I embrace them. It's our connection to the past that makes us stronger." She paused. Yes, she had known exactly what he was crying about. She had been the same. "If you shove down the memories, they don't stay buried. You must come to terms with them. If you want, you can cry for a few nights, or a few months. But we all have to move on. Eventually."

:::

When the sunrise came to turn Bex into a bird, it found her curled up next to 'Ro in the branches of a tree in Miriam's garden.


	11. Big 'ol AN

**Big 'ol A/N**

 _A/N: Ok, ok, ok. I really hate putting a/n's instead of chapters, but this is important! Fair warning: As of next chapter (which is coming soon!) I will be changing the titles of this story, and connected stories. Here's how It will be:_

There For You **A Feather of Soul**

Murk Morgandell **A Shard of Faë**

 _You have been WARNED!_

 _Also! To explain the story arcs…_

 _The arc before this (yes that was one arc), was the 'Makings for a Family' arc. This next arc will be the 'Fiends and Friends' arc._

 _Alright! Now that that's done… Put on your reading glasses people, the next chapter is coming!_


	12. Chapter 10 - Missing

**Chapter Ten - Missing**

Howls in the night awoke the sleeping family, their baby wailing at the disturbance. The farmer, whose name was Johandar, shuddered. Despite having lived with the sounds off-and-on for eight years, he never really got used to it.

The creaking of the bed announced his wife, Arbonde, going to check on the baby.

Johandar sighed. The howls drifting in from outside belonged to the pack of wargs that lived on the farmland. They weren't regular wargs, though. Ever since Connan, Johandar's eldest son, had rescued a warg pup that he found while working in the fields from a hunter's snare, the pack hadn't bothered the farm. Even going so far as to protect flocks from wolves.

The only drawback of this unusual behavior was the howling. Every evening, just after the sun went down, the pack would start their cries. Johandar and his family had gotten used to the sound, but being able to ignore it took practice that the youngest children didn't have.

Arbonde's return drew him out of his reflections, and he realised that the babe had stopped crying. Johandar rolled over with a groan and went back to sleep.

Connan, as always, rose with the sun. Treading softly on the stairs, he made his way down to the kitchen.

Arbonde, the wonderful homekeeper she was, was already up and making breakfast. Fluffy was curled up under the table, snuffling and growling in her sleep. When he had saved her from the snare, Connan had taken her home to patch her up, and only let her into the wild again after a severe lecture from Johandar on the nature of wild animals.

Fluffy, as he had named her, had come back only weeks later though, and Johandar grudgingly let her stay. Just as long as she behaved. And behave she had. For eight years.

Now, sleeping under the table, she looked more like a huge, tamed wolf than an adolescent warg.

"Good morning, Connan," said Arbonde.

"'Morning' Mum," Connan then went about helping his mother ready the kitchen for breakfast.

One by one, children and Johandar meandered down the stairs, sitting themselves at the table, ready to eat. All except one.

"Where's Alif," asked Arbonde. Sending the family looking about to find their second youngest.

:::

"She must have gone outside," Johandar decided after much searching.

Arbonde paled. Fluffy's pack didn't normally attack the family, but it had happened before. She immediately herded the family outside.


End file.
